Elastic fabric



sept. 29, 1925.

J. SIEGEL ELASTIC FABRIC Filed 0,01. 9, 1923 m N w W.

055% s/fa'fz.

ATTORNEYS.

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Patented Sept. 29, 19.25.

UNITED STATES 1,555,032. vPATENT'- oEFlcE.

JOSEPH SIEGEL, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN LADY CORSETICO.

-' y y INC., A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

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Application led October t), 1923.- Serial No. 867,506. i

To all whom it may concern.'

Beit known that I, JOSEPH SIEGL, a citizen of the United States, residing at De troit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful' Improvements in .Elastic Fabrics, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to elastic fabrics, and preferably to fabrics which are intended for incorporation into garments or other articles where suitable fastening means must be passed through the fabric. For example, inv the formation of garments, when the fabriccomposing the remainder of the arment is stitched to the elastic insert, tie vneedle forming the stitch fre-l quently severs, pierces, or otherwise injures the elastic strands of the elastic fabric and thus weakens the elastic fabric and destroys a great deal of its elasticity. Prior attempts have been made to provlde elastic fabrics with inelastic marginal portions to which the stitching may be made, but such fabrics have always been woven with weft and warp threads with the result that the inelastic threads vrunning parallel with the elastic strandsgreatly limited the elasticity of the fabric.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved flat elastic fabric, having an inelastic margin to which other fabrics or articles may be secured without ossibility of injury to the elastic stran s of the fabric; which will have a maximum of elasticity; which, when embodied in garments, will be exceptionally durable and permit folding of the garment in a very compact manner without lacing the elastic strands under stress; an which will be relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in clalms.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of an edge portionl of a knit fabric constructed in accordance with theinvention;

' Fig. 2 is a similar elevation of the reverse face of the fabric;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of an edge portion of a modifiedbconstruction of a knit fabric; and,

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the reversev face of the fabric illustrated in Figure 3.

It will be understood that the drawings are diagrammatic only, and present as near as possible the appearance of the fabric forming-the subject matter of the invention..v In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the flat elastic fabric comprises a mam or major sectlon 1 and one or more marglnal sections 2, each formed of lnterconnected threads. The marginal section 2' with the interconnected threads of that sec-` tion, and runs from side to side successively in parallel stretches within the side limits of the section. Preferably, as illustrated, the bends of the elastic strand between successive runs are disposed in the space between the marginal and major sections where the theads are morel widely or loosely interconnected, and .with this ar-- rangement the bends will not increase the thickness of the fabric.

In order to provide a fabric with maximum elasticity, the major and marginal.

portions are` formed by knitting them in a plurality of layers from a plurality of threads, the stitches of the major section being interconnected to one another around the successive runs of the elastic strand. In the illustrated fabric, three threads are utilized and knit in two layers, and in order to define a marginal portion, the knitting is drop-stitched in atleast one layer at the desired marginal side of the major section.

In Figures 1 and 2, both la ers of the knit fabric are drop-stitched at t e line of division between the major and marginal s ecf tions, so that the transverse connecting v threads 3, formed by the drop-stitching, will serve as the sole connection between the major and marginal sections. The bends be-y tween the ysuccessive runs of the elastic strand are disposed in the drop-stitched por-1 tion of the fabric between the marginal and major sections.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fi ures 3 and 4, only one of the layers is dropstitched at the line of division between the marginal and major sections, the face with the continuous stitches being shown in Figure 3, and the face with the layer, having the drop-stitches being shown in Figure 4.

A knit fabric, because of the nature of the interconnection of its threads, is inherently stretchable to some extent, in distinction to woven fabrics, and therefore with a knit construction the runs of the elastic strand will have less restriction to stretching. When the fabric is utilized in the construction of garments, for example, the other portions of the garment will be secured to the marginal portion 2, and there will be no possibility of injury to the elastic strands by the securing means. When the garmentv is folded along the line of connection between the marginal and major sections, a

very sharp fold in the elastic fabric may be effected without placing the runs of the elastic strand under lexure or stress, and consequently when such garments are left folded in this manner for some time, there will be less deterioration of the elastic strands.

It will be obvious that various changes in the details, herein described and illustrated for -the purpose of explaining the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

-1. A fiat elastic fabric comprising a main elastic section of interconnected threads, and a marginal inelastic sect-ion of interconnected threads connected to a side AV.of the main section by threads more loosely interconnected than the interconnected threads of the marginal and main sections, the elastiity of the main section being from side to s1 e.

2. A fiat elastic fabric comprising a main elastic section of interconnected threads, and a marginal inelastic section of interconnected threads connected to a Side of the main section by transverse threads, which are spaced apart longitudinally of the fabric, whereby the threads connecting the marginal and vmain sections will be spaced more widely than in the main and marginal sections, the elasticity of the main section being from side to side.

3. A flat elastic fabric comprising main and mar inalsections, each formed of interconnecte threads, the marginal section being connected to a side of the main section by threads more loosely interconnected than the interconnected threads of the main and marginal sections, said main section having a continuous elastic strand interwoven therein and running from side to side successively in parallel stretches.

4. A fla-t elastic fabric comprising main and marginal sections, each formed of interconnected'tlireads, the marginal section being connected to a side of the main section by threads extending transversely of the main section and spaced apart longitudinally, the main section having a continuous elastic strand interwoven therein and running transversely of the fabric in successive parallel stretches.

5. A flat elastic fabric, knit in a plurality of layers from a plurality of threads, and having a layer drop-stitched to define a marginal portion, the major portion having a continuous elastic strand between the layers interconnected with the stitching and extending'back and forth from side to side in successive parallel layers within the limit defined by the drop-stitch.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe m signature.

y JOSEPH SIEGEL. 

